Nice work, that turned out really good. I like how you packaged it in a nice small aspheric light.
No, not a mistake, if someone else was watching his gel over the lightbox and I entered the room, you get an instant nasty sting in your eyes, so you was sure to put on the safety glasses immediately. I did however at one point forget the faceshield, had only the glasses on and was severe skintburnt on my face after 1 minute watching my gel. Never forgot the shield again after that :-(
The sun has quite a lot of UV obviously, there is nothing in normal life matching that. Camera's have a lot of trouble with (close to) monochromatic light in general, different intensities are recorded as different colours. Goes wrong with my 400nm light and also with my cyan light.
more pictures, some with mouse-over.
at low (2%) setting
on high, mouse over for zoom-in
the new 5 euro bill, mouse-over for back side
detail
in the woods, mouse over for UV
mouse over for UV
I expected a bit more from the UV-fluorescence in the forest, natural things have not much fluorescence at 365nm really, only weak, so you have to be close with lots of illumination, fungi show white and blue, algae show reddish brown. The light puts out some white-ish light as well, that is why so close-up you see the green as green as well.
LOL, I used the light last night together with my girl-friend to check the kitchen after she did the clean-up (FYI: I did the shopping and the cooking), this light is relentless in showing every grease spot that was not wiped away, a rather sobering sight it was for her, but we had fun doing it 
.
Keep that up and you wont have to worry about a girlfriend. 
lol, I admit that one should be carefull criticizing your girl’s cleaning skills with the latest Ledengin UV-led while giving a lecture on the marvels of modern technology.
But hey, I got away with tha (but at what costs?.. )
You will notice a lot more in your forest-walk if you get the yellow lensed glasses. I used the ManaFont UV drop-in to hunt for scorpions where I used to live (https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/10205) and the yellow glasses made a huge difference. Without the glasses, I missed a lot of the fluorescence. Small things like the fungi that would glow blue/green and then green leaves that fluoresce a dark red were much more noticeable.
Yellow glasses help a lot with 400nm uv-lights because of the very visible purple colour of 400nm. 365 nm light is completely invisible, there is a faint white light coming out of the led as well, but that does not go away with the yellow glasses. I do use the yellow glasses to protect my eyes though..
I see... so the more expensive emitter has a more narrow emission spectrum with a lot less visible blue than my cheap drop-in! Less visible blue is nice, but no way I would spend that much to build a new light for myself. Especially since I've moved and don't have scorpions around any longer. (
/
)
I am worse: I build lights just because I am curious about them, no scorpions in the city of Amsterdam. It does not even get properly dark here.
Spoken like a true flashaholic!! 
:D
Nice thread djozz!
thanks!
I love this light. I am curious about how it holds up against some superduper expensive forensics light, any ideas how that would be, anyone?
There is no light like hand made light, and I can bet that your is currently unique and probably the best because factory can not produce such lights with potted drivers etc...
Lets say that I know that police flashlight in certain countries like X country are to funny to work with so they would think they have alien equipment if you pass them your creation...
You mention I love this light.
It is zoomie... :) LOL you told me several times that you don't like them but I am glad that you changed your mind :)
Imho everybody here are suffering on spill coming from reflector light but I think opposite... Spill only spoils my night vision. and there is nothing better than pure hotspot that has sharp borders, so there is better contrast between illuminated area and dark area. The enhanced contrast lets you to perceive it brighter.
Awesome light there djozz. The beamshots say everything.
For farther distances I agree here, when trying to spot at a distance more often than not a strong sidespill from reflector adds backwash and hinders what you are actually trying to look at.
Nice mod! I still want a UV light in this range but the LEDs are so costly.
Djozz wrote:
. . . I am curious about how it holds up against some superduper expensive forensics light, any ideas how that would be, anyone?
This emitter you have shown us seems like a real bargain. I'm not aware of anything of comparable quality in that price range.
Member Teej seems to be knowledgeable and uses UV for investigations. He recently purchased a light that has that great Nichia UV emitter and lists for like $350. Maybe there is some way to make comparable beam shots (same camera, settings, etc). Link should go straight to Post 113.
Your memory is too good :-) And yes, I changed my mind a bit, zoomies can be very handy, perhaps more even for the nice and even illumination when zoomed out than for the tight spot zoomed in. But for nightwalks in the woods I still very much prefer a reflector light.
I think zoomie is right choice for your UV led because you don't really need spill but hotspot only, and you control beam intensity depending on situation you use it for which can't be done with OP or SMO reflector.
I have big and bright reflector flashlight like Microfire warrior HID but I don't use them often... I just freak neighbors out with so much lumen coming out of this type of flashlight.
If you still don't have make yourself warm tint zoomie. I got to admit that I am using cheap warm tint zoomie for 70% of my lighting need, and others for hobby and fun.
I did't, and the pressure is killing me....I'll see what I can do tonight :-)